The Humble Building held attractions for mere mortals who couldn't enjoy the Petroleum Club. For 25 cents, sightseers could take the elevators up to the dizzying heights of the 44th story.

The Humble Building held attractions for mere mortals who couldn't enjoy the Petroleum Club. For 25 cents, sightseers could take the elevators up to the dizzying heights of the 44th story.

Photo: Blair Pittman, HC Staff

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Outside the building was a super-groovy lotus-blossom fountain. (Alas, it's long gone.)

Outside the building was a super-groovy lotus-blossom fountain. (Alas, it's long gone.)

Photo: Tom Colburn, HC Staff

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Caption from August 24, 1962: "The corner stone-setting dedication ceremonies for the new 44-story Humble Building, home office of the Humble Oil and Refining Co. Principal speakers at the ceremony were Houston Mayor Lewis Cutrer, Humble's president Carl E. Reistle Jr. and Morgan J. Davis, Humble Oil board chairman and chief executive officer. Humble Oil expects to move into the new structure late next month."

Caption from August 24, 1962: "The corner stone-setting dedication ceremonies for the new 44-story Humble Building, home office of the Humble Oil and Refining Co. Principal speakers at the ceremony were Houston

From the Chronicle files. The caption from November 1962: "Framed by an archway of the First Methodist Church at 1320 Main, the Humble Building, at 800 Bell, fills the sky. The building's distinctive cantilevered skin is already familiar to Houstonians."

02/14/1963 - The Petroleum Club atop the Humble Building, 800 Bell. Wives of Petroleum Club members are encouraged in certain areas of the men's club new quarters. Mrs. D. L. Connelly, wife of current Petroleum Club president, and Mrs. E.E. Smith, wife of the first president of the Petroleum Club, view the lobby area of the club atop Houston's tallest building. less

02/14/1963 - The Petroleum Club atop the Humble Building, 800 Bell. Wives of Petroleum Club members are encouraged in certain areas of the men's club new quarters. Mrs. D. L. Connelly, wife of current Petroleum ... more

Photo: Arthur M. Uhlmann, HC Staff

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01/27/1961 - topping out ceremonies at the new Humble Building. At left is part of the 28-foot steel beam autographed by Houston civic and city leaders to be hoisted 605 feet to the top of the 44-story structure. L-R are: C.E. Reistle Jr., Humble Oil and Refining Co. executive vice-president; Houston Mayor Lewis Cutrer; P.H. (Perk) Robinson, Houston Chamber of Commerce president; and Ray H. Horton, vice-president of Southwest Region of Humble Oil less

01/27/1961 - topping out ceremonies at the new Humble Building. At left is part of the 28-foot steel beam autographed by Houston civic and city leaders to be hoisted 605 feet to the top of the 44-story ... more

Photo: Tom Colburn, HC Staff

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A Petroleum Club dining room. (Check out that ultra-60s light fixture.)

A Petroleum Club dining room. (Check out that ultra-60s light fixture.)

Photo: Arthur M. Uhlmann, HC Staff

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02/14/1963 - The Petroleum Club atop the Humble Building, 800 Bell.

02/14/1963 - The Petroleum Club atop the Humble Building, 800 Bell.

Photo: Arthur M. Uhlmann, HC Staff

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Near the top of the Humble skyscraper was the ultra-swank Petroleum Club.

Near the top of the Humble skyscraper was the ultra-swank Petroleum Club.

Photo: Arthur M. Uhlmann, HC Staff

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Petroleum Club style: One part mod, one part old-school luxury.

Petroleum Club style: One part mod, one part old-school luxury.

Photo: Arthur M. Uhlmann, HC Staff

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Houstonians loved the building even while it was under construction: It was proof of the city's growing greatness. In the years that it was under construction, the papers ran breathless stories about the skyscraper's enormous concrete foundation, the massive amount of steel in its skeleton, the giant concrete beams in its parking garage, the cutting-edge telecom system it would deploy. ("Humble Building Will Have More Phones Than 245 Texas Cities," proclaimed one headline.)

Houstonians loved the building even while it was under construction: It was proof of the city's growing greatness. In the years that it was under construction, the papers ran breathless stories about the

07/1961 - Just four blocks west of the modern, new Humble Building (background) is the dramatic contrast of an old section of downtown residences (foreground). This old section is expected to give way later to modern buildings. less

07/1961 - Just four blocks west of the modern, new Humble Building (background) is the dramatic contrast of an old section of downtown residences (foreground). This old section is expected to give way later to ... more

Photo: Larry Evans, HC Staff

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The observation deck drew visitors in the 1960s.

The observation deck drew visitors in the 1960s.

Photo: Tom Colburn, HC Staff

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05/28/1963 - The huge lotus blossom fountain at the base of the new Humble Building at 800 Bell.

05/28/1963 - The huge lotus blossom fountain at the base of the new Humble Building at 800 Bell.

Photo: Tom Colburn, HC Staff

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08/1967 - the lotus blossom fountain at the base of the new Humble Building at 800 Bell.

08/1967 - the lotus blossom fountain at the base of the new Humble Building at 800 Bell.

Photo: Tom Colburn, HC Staff

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01/13/1977 - Fog shrouds the upper floors of the Exxon Building, formerly known as the Humble Building. at 800 Bell.

01/13/1977 - Fog shrouds the upper floors of the Exxon Building, formerly known as the Humble Building. at 800 Bell.

Photo: Ray Covey, HP Staff

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Spotter: ExxonMobil Building at 800 Bell

Spotter: ExxonMobil Building at 800 Bell

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The Petroleum Club was, for a while, the fanciest place in an ambitious town.

The Petroleum Club was, for a while, the fanciest place in an ambitious town.

Photo: Arthur M. Uhlmann, HC Staff

Is downtown '60s-era architecture worth saving?

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If the skyscraper pictured on the architecture firm's website were a new building, I wouldn't be upset. Ziegler Cooper's drawings show a shiny glass box with a light-up crown on top. It's not bad-looking; I'd be happy if that building were going to sprout atop one of the surface parking lots that blight the southern part of downtown.

But it's not a new building. Instead, it's an extreme makeover - a modernizing slipcover job proposed for the skyscraper that ExxonMobil will abandon when it moves to the suburbs. The Humble Oil building, as that skyscraper was originally known, would be completely unrecognizable, erased from the skyline.

That's what upsets me. The Humble Oil building is an important skyscraper from Houston's mid-century glory days. It's not just architecturally significant; it's also a place that people loved, a place that made them proud, a place where tourists came to gawk.

Sure, the building needs to be freshened up for new tenants, a new era. But I was hoping for a gentler nip-and-tuck, one that plays up the building's "Mad Men"-era cool - not one that strips away precisely the things that make it great, and leaves a shiny new-looking box where a piece of the city's soul used to be.

Did any two words ever fit together worse than "Humble" and "Oil"? There was nothing humble about oil - certainly not in the late '50s, when the bidness was booming. Oil made Houston what it was then: a swaggering boomtown, giddy with the sense of its own possibilities.

There was certainly nothing humble, either, about the skyscraper that the Humble Oil & Refining Co. proposed to build. At 44 stories, the building would be the tallest in Texas, the tallest in the South, the tallest west of the Mississippi. It'd cost $32 million, an extraordinary sum.

Of course the Humble Oil building was modern in style; oil was modern, Houston was modern. Designed by Welten Becket and Associates, the skyscraper was elegant and a tad formal, the equivalent of one of Don Draper's suits. There was nothing wasted, no decorative folderol. The building's one great flourish - the long horizontal fins that shaded its windows - also was highly functional. In Houston's climate, air-conditioning needed all the help it could get.

Houstonians loved the building even before it opened: It was proof of the city's growing greatness. In the years that it was under construction, the papers ran breathless stories about the skyscraper's enormous concrete foundation, the massive amount of steel in its skeleton, the giant concrete beams in its parking garage, the cutting-edge telecom system it would deploy. ("Humble Building Will Have More Phones Than 245 Texas Cities," proclaimed one headline.)

Even before it was finished, the building became a landmark, a spike visible for miles on the flat horizon. And once it opened, the private Petroleum Club, with its incredible view from the upper floors, was immediately a place of pride for city's elite, a spot where oilmen brought astronauts for dinner.

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Lifestyle

The thing that haunts me most, though, is how much regular people loved the building. A few months after it opened 1963, tourists were allowed to visit the observation deck on its top floor. For 25 cents, anyone at all could ride an elevator up to those dizzying heights. On a clear day, sightseers could spot ships in Galveston Bay and the gas fields in Katy. And to commemorate the experience, a coin-operated machine would squish soft plastic into a little replica of the building.

It's been a long time since Houston built things that people love that much.

Slipcovers

It wasn't long before new, taller buildings stole Humble Oil's thunder. Soon after its opening, a skyscraper in Dallas became the tallest building in Texas. In 1968, the Chronicle lamented that Chicago's new John Hancock Building would be nearly twice as tall as Humble Oil: "Oh, the shame of it all, civic pride-wise." In 1971, One Shell Plaza became Houston's new tallest building. Soon after, the Humble Oil skyscraper closed its observation deck.

Over the years, the company morphed into ExxonMobil. Now it's putting the finishing touches on a 20-building campus in Houston's far northern suburbs and plans to move its operations there in 2015. In January, it was announced that Shorenstein, a San Francisco-based developer, had bought the downtown skyscraper.

The timing was dangerous for the building: It's in an awkward part of its life cycle, the bit where many see it as old and unfashionable, but not yet historic. In the name of updating, bad things tend to happen to buildings at that stage. See, for instance, the dreadful metal skin that, in the 1960s, made an eyesore of the once-lovely Art Deco Sears on Main Street at Wheeler. Or look at the trouble required to remove the "modern" slipcover off the century-old Carter Building at 806 Main; before the former office building reopens next year as a Marriott, it's undergoing an $80 million renovation to restore its Beaux Arts glory.

Sure enough, a few weeks ago, slipcover plans were unveiled for the Humble Oil building. Shorenstein's website describes the building - identified by its address, 800 Bell - as "an excellent candidate for modernization" and says that the new glass curtain wall will create "an entirely modern exterior identity for the tower." Drawings of that shiny new re-do appeared on the architecture firm's website.

History and architecture buffs are distraught. Architect David Bucek, who serves on the boards of both Houston Mod and Preservation Texas, can't imagine why a renovation of the Humble Oil skyscraper would strip it of its signature fins: "Why would you take away the very thing that gives the building its flair?"

Those sun-shading fins, he notes, were eco-sensitive long before it was fashionable and an idea worth bringing back in new buildings. Shade is efficient; shade is green.

And so is keeping the best parts of a historic building, rather than stripping them all away. It'd be relatively easy, Bucek says, to update the building's windows with new, super-efficient glass. And a renovation should certainly address its flaws - its awkward courtyard, its lack of connection to Houston's tunnel system. But why not build on its strengths? Why wipe out its personality? Why erase its history?

I called Shorenstein Properties, hoping that someone there would talk to me, make me feel better about the company's plans. Instead, their publicist sent this bland statement:

"The owner believes that the plan it has developed, and will implement, is the best way to preserve this building and ensure it remains a vibrant, job-producing part of Houston's downtown office market."

Right: as if you preserve a building by making it utterly unrecognizable. As if a different kind of renovation wouldn't produce jobs. As if no one would want to occupy a very cool historic building.

Shorenstein ought to know better. The company's own San Francisco headquarters are in the Russ Building, a 1927 neo-Gothic State of California historic landmark - a building that Shorenstein's website proudly describes as "a modern office environment within a classic and meticulously preserved structure."